Passage 5

Passage: "'I don't care much for these nasty insinuations. A very suspicious nature all this betokeneth, my little brothers.'"

I thought this passage was significant for it truly characterizes Alex as a leader. He is a clever one to come up with a plan in one night to have alibis for a time period when his gang hospitalizes two innocent humans. It one, shows how important it is for them to hurt and terrorize the people of this city, otherwise they wouldn't have put so much effort into coming up with an alibi. Two, Alex is the only one to speak to the cops. He flips the situation around on the authorities, pretending as though they are wrong to ask or question these boys. Such a character with attitude, that displays no fear, reflects his leadership. He also refers to the others as his "little brothers." He finds himself above the rest, for they will clearly follow and listen to Alex.

Passage 4

Passage: "The old veck began to make sort of chumbling shooms-"wuf waf wof"-so Georgie let go of holding his goobers apart and just let him have one in the toothless rot with his ringy fist, abd that made the old veck start moaning a lot then, then out comes the blood, my brothers, real beautiful. So all we did then was to pull his outer platties off, stripping him down to his vest and long underpants (very starry; Dim smecked his head off near), and then Pete kicks him lovely in his pot, and we let him go."

The reason this passage caught my eye is due to it's syntax and diction. Alex desribes what how they are beating a man, and then finishes the sentence with how beautiful of a job they did, meanwhile the act in itself is a horrible, ugly event. The diction leads to the irony of the passage. Its as those this is their good act for the evening; the gang feels accomplished, so therefore they did a lovely job. It adds to a readers disgust in the characters, for its one thing to do something wrong, but to then glorify yourself as your doing it is just plain evil.

Passage 3

Passage: "You never really saw many of the older bourgeois type out after nightfall those days, what with the shortage of police and we fine young malchickiwicks about, and this prof type chelloveck was the only one walking in the whole of the street. So we goolied up to him, very polite, and I said: 'Pardon me, brother.' "

I love this passage. It completely explains the reasons to why they continue such an ugly lifestyle; its because they won't get caught. Most children without set guidelines, will test how far they can go, to any extreme. It also uses imagery through an idea that the night becomes a metaphor for the danger and freewill of these teenagers to do whatever they please. I love the diction, where Alex isolates himself from the rest of society, for he uses "malchickiwicks" to describe them, and "chellovecks" to describe the other half of society. Notice the word "malchickiwicks," the connotation for such a word leads to an assumption of character of great looks, personality, etc. In reality these boys are dirtbags. Alex uses irony to cast a pompous air to the gang, for the conceited tone truly shines through when he classifies himself as polite. Soon after, he beats this poor guy.

Passage 2

Passage: "Then the lights started cracking like atomics and the boot or finger-nail or, as it might be, a bit of dirt on your trouser-bottom turned into a big big big mesto, bigger than the whole world, and you were just going to get introduced to old Bog or God when it was all over. You came back to here and now whimpering sort of, with your rot all squaring ip for a boohoohoo. Now, that's very nice but very cowardly. You were not put on this earth just to get in touch with God. That sort of thing could sap all the strength and the goodness out of a chelloveck."

In this passage Alex is explaining the effect the drugs have on his friends. He comments again on God. I think the diction of the word "Bog," that Burgess has decided to use for God is extremely interesting. It gives me the feeling that these boys do not believe in God, for the word "Bog" sounds like something out of a fable; something unrealistic. That leads me to believe that everything after their episode is sarcastic. He is trying to explain how when you believe in God, you are feared into a life of goodness, which only weakens you. You should live your life to the fullest, not fearing the consequences of your sins, for "you were not put on this earth just to get in touch with God."

Passage 1

Passage: "Well, what they sold there was milk plus something else. They had no license for selling liquor, but there was no law yet against prodding some of the new veshches which they used to put into the old moloko, so you could peet it with vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom or one or two other veshches which would give you a nice quiet horrowshow fifteen minites admiring Bog and All His Holy Angels And Saints in your left shoe with lights bursting all over your mozg."

The first thing that stunned me about this passage are Burgess' made-up words. I had to reread these sentences over and over again to finally realize that they were talking about doing drugs. I like how he uses his word "veshches" to address the event, for it sounds like a soothing, yet dangerous word. The imagery of this passage also struck me, for I found it extremely weird that these bad boys are drinking milk in a bar. Milk has a connotation to youth and the young, for I can hardly imagine adults drinking milk regularly. While they drink this milk, they are doing dangerous drugs. The irony is clearly evident and it clearly justifies the main theme. These boys have their own free will to do whatever they want. They were born infants, and although that will always stay with them, they have the choose to drink that milk but then follow that glass without any danger they choose to embark upon.